An unidentified military missile launched and zoomed across the Atlantic Ocean Thursday, March 26, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, leaving a slim white contrail against the afternoon blue sky.
None of the Space Coast’s major rocket-launch providers had missions scheduled on Thursday. The mysterious unannounced launch occurred at roughly 12:30 p.m.
“A combined team of government, academic, and industry partners conducted a test on behalf of the Department of War from a test site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station,” a Pentagon official confirmed to FLORIDA TODAY on Friday, March 27.
“We are currently evaluating the results of the test,” the statement said.
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launches unknown missile
Early this afternoon an unidentified missile was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station over the Atlantic.
The secretive missile launch had been foretold by an unusual Coast Guard-Department of Homeland Security launch-hazard zone extending eastward roughly 1,200 miles across the sea.
In previous similar launches from the Cape, a hypersonic missile streaked skyward at great speed. An April 2025 test flight was conducted by the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs. The U.S. Army and Navy conducted a successful, unannounced December 2024 Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon test from Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Hypersonic weapons fly at speeds of at least Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The U.S. military has pursued hypersonic weapon development since the early 2000s.
Dark Eagle, or the Army’s Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, has a reported range of 1,725 miles. The military’s 2024 Cape Canaveral launch represented the program’s first live-fire event.
ULA, SpaceX rocket launches coming up Sunday
Looking ahead on the Eastern Range schedule, two broadband-satellites missions are scheduled for Sunday, March 29.
First, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying 29 Amazon Leo satellites will lift off at 3:53 a.m. from Launch Complex 41. That 29-minute launch window will last until 4:22 a.m.
Then, SpaceX will send up a Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 10-44 mission from Launch Complex 40. That four-hour launch window will last from 5:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.
Look for live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team coverage of both missions to start about 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly 321 Launch space newsletter.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY, where he has covered news since 2004. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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